Post by frankmcvey (Angel) on Mar 27, 2015 16:06:39 GMT
The Burial of King Richard III.kmz (12.25 KB)
The Burial of King Richard III of England
King Richard III of England had a short reign, from 1482 to his death fighting at the Battle of Bosworth, near Leicester in England, in August 1485. Reports from the time suggest that his body was stripped of its armour and slung across a horse and paraded from Bosworth to Leicester. His body was put on view to the public, then buried at Greyfriars Church in a tomb paid for by his rival and usurper, Henry Tudor, who took the crown of England on Richard's death and founded the dynasty of the Tudor kings and queens of England.
Greyfriars Church was destroyed during the Reformation, and the tomb of Richard was lost for nearly 500 years. Then in 1986, a noted historian and university tutor, David Baldwin, presented a paper to the Leicester Archaeologoical Society, arguing that the body of Richard was probably still its tomb somewhere under the site of the former church. Funds were sought and permissions obtained, and at last, in August 2012, a dig for his tomb commenced on the site, now a municipal car park. On the first day of the 3-week dig, excavations found a battle-scarred skeleton, with the spine severely curved by scholiosis. This was significant - the king was alleged to have a deformity and was often referred to as Richard Crookback.
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The Burial of King Richard III of England
King Richard III of England had a short reign, from 1482 to his death fighting at the Battle of Bosworth, near Leicester in England, in August 1485. Reports from the time suggest that his body was stripped of its armour and slung across a horse and paraded from Bosworth to Leicester. His body was put on view to the public, then buried at Greyfriars Church in a tomb paid for by his rival and usurper, Henry Tudor, who took the crown of England on Richard's death and founded the dynasty of the Tudor kings and queens of England.
Greyfriars Church was destroyed during the Reformation, and the tomb of Richard was lost for nearly 500 years. Then in 1986, a noted historian and university tutor, David Baldwin, presented a paper to the Leicester Archaeologoical Society, arguing that the body of Richard was probably still its tomb somewhere under the site of the former church. Funds were sought and permissions obtained, and at last, in August 2012, a dig for his tomb commenced on the site, now a municipal car park. On the first day of the 3-week dig, excavations found a battle-scarred skeleton, with the spine severely curved by scholiosis. This was significant - the king was alleged to have a deformity and was often referred to as Richard Crookback.
During the following months forensic work was carried out to identify the remains. The wounds discovered at the post-mortem were consistent with contemporary reports; the bones gave an age of a man in his early thirties and DNA comparison tests between the bones and two living descendants of Richard's line led to the announcement in Feb 2013 that this was indeed the remains of King Richard III of England.
It was eventually decided that Leicester had the better case and, on the 26th of March 2015 the King's remains were interred with considerable ceremony in a simple, dignified tomb in Leicester Cathedral, in a coffin, fittingly made by Michael Ibsen, a Canadian born cabinetmaker and the 17th generation nephew of King Richard; his DNA was one of the samples used to identify the King. As a part of the funeral service, a poem was read by the actor Benedict Cumberbatch, a second cousin of King Richard, 16 times removed.
News Report on The Burial of King Richard III
Professor Caroline Wilkinson and the forensic art team at the University of Dundee. created a reconstruction of the King's head from his skull:
Richard III was controversial in life, death and history, and the arrangements for the burial on the King were equally controversial; the City of York, ancestral home home of Richard argued that he should be buried there; the City of Leicester having "hosted" the King for 500 years and whose University had been instrumental in the discovery and identification contended that he should remain in Leicester.
Richard III was controversial in life, death and history, and the arrangements for the burial on the King were equally controversial; the City of York, ancestral home home of Richard argued that he should be buried there; the City of Leicester having "hosted" the King for 500 years and whose University had been instrumental in the discovery and identification contended that he should remain in Leicester.
It was eventually decided that Leicester had the better case and, on the 26th of March 2015 the King's remains were interred with considerable ceremony in a simple, dignified tomb in Leicester Cathedral, in a coffin, fittingly made by Michael Ibsen, a Canadian born cabinetmaker and the 17th generation nephew of King Richard; his DNA was one of the samples used to identify the King. As a part of the funeral service, a poem was read by the actor Benedict Cumberbatch, a second cousin of King Richard, 16 times removed.
News Report on The Burial of King Richard III
For many years, people had wondered how a man afflicted with a fairly pronounced spinal deformity could achieve what Richard did in terms of learning to ride and fight, particularly in medieval armour; difficult to assess, since nowadays most people with this degree of scoliosis have had corrective surgery in their early years. However a television production team eventually found a young man with a very similar condition and made a documentary that might surprise you. I've only managed to find a fairly short clip from the program, but it's well worth watching the full item if you can find it.
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